We think soft skills are about people.
France’s highest court has just reminded us they must first be about facts.
On 15 October 2025, the French Cour de cassation issued a ruling on how behavioural skills are assessed.
And what it says is both important and counter-intuitive.
When soft skills aren’t grounded in observable facts, assessment tips over into judgment.
When we think of soft skills, we think personality, presence, emotional intelligence.
And precisely because it feels human, we assume we can stay vague.
That’s exactly where it becomes dangerous.
Soft skills can absolutely be assessed.
Cooperation, the ability to give feedback, the quality of listening.
How someone handles disagreement, makes decisions, delegates, holds a frame.
But on one condition.
Never confuse professional behaviour with a judgment about the person.
“He lacks common sense.”
“She’s not positive enough.”
“He doesn’t have the right mindset.”
“She lacks presence.”
That isn’t feedback.
It’s interpretation.
The right question in any assessment is always the same.
What did they do? In what situation? With what impact? Against which expectation?
A soft skill becomes professional when it becomes observable.
We don’t say: “He’s good with people.”
We say: “He shares relevant information at the right time, listens to objections without interrupting, and rephrases points of disagreement before looking for a solution.”
We don’t say: “She has leadership presence.”
We say: “She states her decisions clearly. She holds the line once a decision is made. She stands by a disagreement without becoming rigid.”
We don’t say: “He lacks common sense.”
We say: “He didn’t identify the operational risks before signing off on the decision.”
Staying vague doesn’t protect people.
It exposes employees to subjective assessment.
It exposes managers to imprecise feedback.
It exposes the organisation to criteria that look more like a personality standard than a professional requirement.
I see it in coaching.
When feedback is vague, it hurts and it triggers defensiveness.
When it’s factual, it opens the door to growth.
That isn’t less human.
It’s more responsible.
Soft skills must not turn into vague judgments about people.
They need to become a precise language for the behaviours expected at work.
That’s when they become genuinely useful.
In your organisation, are behavioural criteria assessed on observable facts… or on impressions of people?